diff --git a/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake b/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake
index 3eaf890f32..ceb7b7989c 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake
+++ b/cmake/OpenCVDetectInferenceEngine.cmake
@@ -135,9 +135,9 @@ endif()
 
 if(INF_ENGINE_TARGET)
   if(NOT INF_ENGINE_RELEASE)
-    message(WARNING "InferenceEngine version has not been set, 2020.4 will be used by default. Set INF_ENGINE_RELEASE variable if you experience build errors.")
+    message(WARNING "InferenceEngine version has not been set, 2021.1 will be used by default. Set INF_ENGINE_RELEASE variable if you experience build errors.")
   endif()
-  set(INF_ENGINE_RELEASE "2020040000" CACHE STRING "Force IE version, should be in form YYYYAABBCC (e.g. 2020.1.0.2 -> 2020010002)")
+  set(INF_ENGINE_RELEASE "2021010000" CACHE STRING "Force IE version, should be in form YYYYAABBCC (e.g. 2020.1.0.2 -> 2020010002)")
   set_target_properties(${INF_ENGINE_TARGET} PROPERTIES
     INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "HAVE_INF_ENGINE=1;INF_ENGINE_RELEASE=${INF_ENGINE_RELEASE}"
   )
diff --git a/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp b/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp
index e8fdada99a..bb9563f4ac 100644
--- a/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp
+++ b/modules/dnn/src/op_inf_engine.hpp
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@
 #define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2020_2 2020020000
 #define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2020_3 2020030000
 #define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2020_4 2020040000
+#define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_1 2021010000
 
 #ifndef INF_ENGINE_RELEASE
-#warning("IE version have not been provided via command-line. Using 2020.4 by default")
-#define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2020_4
+#warning("IE version have not been provided via command-line. Using 2021.1 by default")
+#define INF_ENGINE_RELEASE INF_ENGINE_RELEASE_2021_1
 #endif
 
 #define INF_ENGINE_VER_MAJOR_GT(ver) (((INF_ENGINE_RELEASE) / 10000) > ((ver) / 10000))